TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Steven Stamkos scored his 499th goal on a 5-on-3 power play in the third period to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Thursday night.
On the verge of becoming the 47th NHL player to reach 500 goals, Stamkos beat Colin Delia from the left circle to make it 5–2 at 5:30. Delia made four strong saves on the Lightning captain, including a pair during the ensuing one-man advantage.
Quinn Hughes and Elias Peterson put Vancouver ahead 5–4. An in-close shot by Andrei Vasilevsky with two seconds to play was deflected off Curtis Lazer’s pass.
Corey Perry, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Heigl also scored for the Lightning, who have won nine straight at home. Vasilevsky made 36 saves.
Delia stopped 30 shots and Connor Garland and JT Miller scored for Vancouver. Hughes added two assists and has a career high 201 points.
The Canucks have fallen five times in a row on the road.
Bench
Vancouver defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsen was a healthy scratch after going a combined minus-5 in the previous two games.
“I think he can get better, but I think there are a lot of guys who can get better now,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said before the game. “It’s something you don’t want to do. He’s arguably our best defenseman but sometimes you just have to do what you feel is the best thing for the team at the time.
trainer’s room
Canucks: F Tanner Pearson underwent second hand surgery on Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season. … D Travis Dermott left with an undisclosed injury.
next
Canucks: Saturday Night in Florida.
Lightning: Saturday Night in St. Louis.
